Your players have set out on a long journey over the lawless land between cities and villages. During these times of war, petty rulers have their army stretched. They must defend their strongholds but also march out to contain their enemies. This has left the road to chaos. Bandits and worse take what they can, from those who are not swift enough to avoid them, or cannot hold their possessions through force of arms.

The road is a place where the curtain of civilisation is torn apart, and the stage is given to the beasts and killers amongst men. Yet there are those who take the gamble on barren paths; facing starvation, robbery and the elements, in the hope of gaining a reprieve from poverty or the confinement of besieged cities.

100 Travel Encounters - Tales for Dark Roads can be used as an idea-generator for whenever PCs begin a perilous overland journey. It also includes suggested rules and new diseases for use within the Nights of the Crusades setting.

An example of an encounter is the following:29 - The Trial: Three knights stand before a kneeling man in tattered rags. The knights will hail the characters. The man is accused of summoning mischievous imps that distracted the knights from sleeping, causing their defeat in a recent skirmish. They take the travellers as a sign from Saint Christopher that they should defer to them, as their own knowledge in law is lacking. So they ask a representative of the characters (a Frankish, Roman Catholic Cleric would be their first choice) as to whether they should trial the man by fire, water or combat. As an aside, the right answer is that the accused gets to choose.